Smartphones, wearable computing devices (e.g., glasses, watches, health fitness monitors, etc.), and other mobile computing devices are commonly carried by people at all times. Each of those mobile computing devices generally includes multiple sensors depending on the intended use of the particular mobile computing device. For example, a mobile computing device may include one or more sensors such as cameras, microphones, location sensors, inertial sensors, and/or other sensors.
Such sensors potentially pose a significant security and privacy risk to others in the vicinity of the computing device. For example, an employer may not want employees to be able to record confidential conversations at the workplace (e.g., in the defense industry). Common solutions to ensure privacy is maintained include confiscation of the computing devices of everyone involved in a confidential conference. Alternatively, software-based solutions may allow one device to request another device to disable sensors; however, such software-based solutions are oftentimes easily compromised.